The influence of Hofstede dimensions of national culture on consumer behavior in Gulf countries
Sam Toglaw, PhD
Head of Marketing Degree, The Australian College of Kuwait.
samtoglaw@gmail.com
We examined qualitatively the influence of Hofstede dimensions of national culture on
consumer behavior in Gulf countries in the Middle East. Focus groups were
formed and the outcomes were analyzed. Results indicated that the national
culture in the gulf countries is collectivist and feminine. However, it has a
high indulgence and short term orientation contrary to the majority of
expatiates who live in gulf countries with long term orientation and restrained
style of living. On the other hand. High indulgence is perceived by members of
the focus groups as a social problem because it is related to overspending,
over consumption and higher tendency to purchase luxury products. Cross
communication and educational programs were suggested to elevate the level of
awareness of the consumers in gulf council countries (GCC) in relation to the
negative consequences of high indulgence.
On the other hand, power distance and uncertainty avoidance were
reviewed. Citizens of gulf countries were described to share a lower power
distance and uncertainty avoidance among each other but the national culture of
these countries tend to reflect a medium to high levels of power distance and
uncertainty avoidance. The potential problems associated to these dimensions
were highlighted and solutions were proposed.
Keywords: National culture, power distance, uncertainty avoidance,
individualism versus collectivism, masculinity versus femininity, consumer
behavior, decision making process, low involvement and high involvement
purchase process.
Introduction
Hofstede (1973) defined culture as the collective programming of the
mind distinguishing the members of one group or category of people from others.
He described the national culture of a country with four dimensions, Power
Distance (PDI), Individualism versus Collectivism (IDV), Masculinity versus
Femininity (MAS) and Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI). In 1991, he added the fifth
dimension of national cultures which is “long-term versus short-term
orientation” in order to cover aspects of values not discussed in the original
paradigm. In 2010 he added a sixth dimension which is “indulgence versus
self-restraint” as a result of co-author Michael Minkov’s analysis of data from
the World Values Survey. In the following few pages the dimension of national
culture are reviewed with a focus on the Gulf Council Countries (GCC). I
addition the relationship and influence of national culture on consumer
behavior is investigated.
Power distance (PDI) expresses the degree to which the less powerful
members of a society accept and expect that power is distributed unequally. The
fundamental issue here is how a society handles inequalities among people.
People in societies exhibiting a large degree of power distance accept a
hierarchical order in which everybody has a place and which needs no further
justification. In societies with low power distance, people strive to equalise
the distribution of power and demand justification for inequalities of power.
Cultures that endorse low power distance expect and accept power relations that
are more consultative or democratic.
Individualism versus collectivism dimension (IDV) describes the degree
to which individuals are integrated into groups. It reflects people’s
self-image in terms of “I” or “we.”
In individualistic societies, the stress is put on personal achievements
and individual rights. People are expected to stand up for themselves and their
immediate family, and to choose their own affiliations. It is a preference for
a loosely-knit social framework in which individuals are expected to take care
of themselves and their immediate families only.
In contrast, in collectivist societies, individuals act predominantly as
members of a lifelong and cohesive group or organization it represents a
preference for a tightly-knit framework in society in which individuals can
expect their relatives or members of a particular in-group to look after them
in exchange for unquestioning loyalty.
Masculinity vs. femininity (MAS) dimension describes the distribution of
emotional roles between genders. The masculinity side of this dimension
represents a preference in society for achievement, heroism, competitiveness,
assertiveness and material reward for success. People in the society at large
are more in competition . Its opposite, femininity, stands for a preference for
cooperation, modesty, caring for the weak, building relations and quality of
life. Society at large is more consensus-oriented.
In masculine cultures, the differences between gender roles are more
dramatic and less fluid than in feminine cultures where men and women have the
same values emphasizing modesty and caring.
The uncertainty avoidance dimension (UAI) expresses the degree to which
the members of a society feel uncomfortable with uncertainty and ambiguity. It
reflects the extent to which members of a society attempt to cope with anxiety
by minimizing uncertainty particularly in relation to future events. Do people
need to control future or let it happen. To what extent can deal with unclear
and unstructured situations.
People in cultures with high uncertainty avoidance tend to be more
emotional. They try to minimize the occurrence of unknown and unusual
circumstances and to proceed with careful changes step by step planning and by
implementing rules, laws and regulations. In contrast, low uncertainty
avoidance cultures accept and feel comfortable in unstructured situations or
changeable environments and try to have as few rules as possible. People in
these cultures tend to be more pragmatic, they are more tolerant of change.
Countries exhibiting strong UAI maintain rigid codes of belief and behavior.
Weak UAI societies maintain a more relaxed attitude in which practice counts
more than principles (McSweeney, 2002).
Long term vs. short term orientation (LTO) is the fifth dimension that
describes societies time horizon. Long term oriented societies attach more
importance to the future. They foster pragmatic values oriented towards
rewards, including persistence, saving and capacity for adaptation. In
societies with a long-term orientation, people believe that truth depends very
much on situation, context and time. They show an ability to adapt traditions
to changed conditions, a strong propensity to save and invest, thriftiness, and
perseverance in achieving results.
In short term oriented societies, values promoted are related to the
past and the present, including steadiness, respect for tradition, preservation
of one’s face, reciprocation and fulfilling social obligations. A relatively
small propensity to save for the future, and a focus on achieving quick
results.
Indulgence versus restraint dimension (IVR) describes the extent to
which members in a society try to control their desires and impulses. Whereas
indulgent societies have a tendency to allow relatively free gratification
(fulfillment) of basic and natural human desires related to enjoying life and
having fun, restrained societies have a conviction that such gratification
needs to be curbed and regulated by strict norms.
The country scores on the Hofstede dimensions can also be found to
correlate with other data about the countries in question. Some examples: power
distance is correlated with income inequality in a country. Individualism is
correlated with national wealth. Masculinity is correlated negatively with the
percent of women in democratically elected governments. Uncertainty avoidance
is associated with the legal obligation in developed countries for citizens to
carry identity cards. Long-term orientation is correlated with school results.
Table 1: Hofstede national culture dimensions as viewed by
international studies
National Culture Dimension
|
High
|
Medium
|
Low
|
PDI
|
Latin and Asian countries, African
areas and the Arab world
|
USA
|
Anglo and Germanic countries –Most
Europe
In Europe, power distance tends to be
lower in northern countries and higher in southern and eastern parts: for
example, 68 in Poland and 57 for Spain vs. 31 for Sweden and 35 for the
United Kingdom.
|
IND
|
North America and Europe
|
Japan and the Arab world
|
Asia, Africa and Latin America
|
UAI
|
Latin American countries, Southern and
Eastern Europe countries including German speaking countries, and Japan
|
Middle East
|
Anglo, Nordic, and Chinese culture
countries as well as Scandinavian countries such as Sweden and Denmark
|
MAS
|
Japan, Europe,
Venezuela
|
Scandinavian / Nordic
countries: Norway scores 8 and Sweden, Most
Latin American countries
|
|
LTO
|
East Asia and Japan
|
Europe
|
Anglo countries, the Muslim world,
Africa and in Latin America
|
IVR
|
Latin America, parts of Africa, the
Anglo world and Nordic Europe
|
East Asia, Eastern Europe and the
Muslim world.
|
National culture and consumer behavior
Hofstede dimensions of national culture have very important implications
on the consumer behavior and social interactions in a society. For example,
consumers in countries with high level of uncertainty avoidance would require
more guarantees on the performance of a particular product before buying it.
Companies which are selling cars in a country of high UAI need to focus their
marketing communications and promotional campaigns on safety and warranties for
main parts or the car.
Also, selling cars to consumers in countries with national culture of
long term orientation require focusing on values related to capacity for
adaptation and savings based on longer service life and higher cash for
reselling the car.
Therefore, it is plausible to say that companies selling cars in
countries with high indulgence dimension need to focus on the luxury of the
car, its shape and design as well as offering more features in order to allow
customers reach the maximum joy and fulfillment.
China is a high collectivist country. Promoting cars in china requires
showing a collective experience of driving the car. Ads and commercials should
show friends or a group of people driving
the car with a collective experience of satisfaction and happiness.
Whereas promoting cars in individualistic societies require showing personal
benefits and satisfaction on the individual level.
Consumer behavior in GCC countries
Gulf council countries (GCC) are Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar,
UAE and Oman. They are oil producing countries in the Middle East which attract
a large number of expatriates from all over the world to work and live in a tax
free environment. A large percentage of expatriates are from the Middle East
who share some cultural and religious aspects with the citizens of GCC
countries.
Cultural differences are more often a source of conflict than of
synergy. Not all people can accommodate cultural differences. understanding
these differences facilitates cross cultural communication and helps solve many
behavioral problems.
Although some researchers studied some aspects of consumer behavior in
Gulf Council countries, there is little work written about the Hofstede
cultural dimensions in these countries. The study conducted by Alhemoud (2008)
explains that the merchandise image was the most salient in determining the
frequency of supermarket shopping in Kuwait but it does not cover the potential
dimension of national culture that could influence the intention for frequent
shopping. In other study conducted by Al-Jeraisy (2008) on the consumer
behavior of Saudi families, the female gender was found positively associated
to the purchase decision process in a collectivist society that is perceived to
have a higher power distance between the male and female genders. Therefore, in order to explore more relations
between the national culture dimensions and the consumer behavior, this study
requires an exploratory qualitative approach to find the link between the
national culture and consumer behavior in GC countries.
Method
The study is an initiative exploratory investigation of the influence of
Hofstede dimensions of national culture on consumer behavior in GCC countries.
Therefore, a qualitative approach based on focus groups and semi-structured
interviews was adopted. In-depth interviews will help probe more deeply than it
is possible with other research methods. Also, they will help understand and
compare interviewee’s opinions, feelings and personal experiences.
Sample
Six focus groups each consists of six members where used as a
preliminary research method. Each focus group consists of three local citizens
of a GCC country and three expatriates who lived in a particular GCC country
for minimum of ten years. Each focus group was oriented for one country of the
six GCC countries. GCC countries are Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE
and Oman. The focus groups aimed to picture the dimensions of Hofstede national
culture in Arab gulf countries in the Middle East. In addition, the discussions
with the members in the focus groups aimed for defining the influence of
various Hofstede dimension on the consumer behavior in GCC countries. The
average time of each focus group was 90 minutes.
Data Analysis
The qualitative data enabled a dynamic handling of the research where
data collection and analysis took place concurrently and the ideas were refined
and revised in the light of the gathered information. A checklist was used to
guide the progress of the focus group and insure that all relevant points are
covered. The conducted focus group interviews were transcribed and analyzed.
The text in each paragraph with flagged with keywords. Key words were defined
and grouped into different themes.
The frequencies of occurrence of key words were recorded. The obtained
qualitative data from in-depth interviews were analyzed by simple content
analysis (Miles and Huberman, 1984). Data was categorized in a systematic way
to uncover patterns or themes and to extract meanings from the collected mass information.
Results
Members of focus groups agree that the national culture of GCC countries is collectivist and feminine.
First of all it embraces a tightly-knit framework in which individuals can
expect their relatives or members of a particular in-group to look after them
in exchange for unquestioning loyalty.
On the other hand, the national culture of GCC is viewed as a feminine culture which
demonstrates a preference for cooperation, modesty, caring for the weak,
building relations and aspiration for quality of life.
Uncertainty avoidance
Also, the national culture of GCC
is described as low in uncertainty avoidance due to fact that locals have
strong social ties due to familial and tribal structure of the society. Locals
visit each other frequently in reception halls commonly called Diwaniya or
Majlis.
On the other hand, uncertainty avoidance was described to be higher for
consumers shopping in GC markets. Members of focus groups referred this higher
level to two factors, firstly most sales people in GC countries are expatriates
that come from different cultures which could be subject to stereotyping in
some cases. Secondly, the market relies mainly on imported goods from different
parts of the world. Not all these products are from known or international
brands, the matter that requires insurances for good performance such as warrantees
and testimonials.
Power distance
Although the respondents of the focus groups indicated that the national
culture in GC countries tend to reflect medium to high power distance, the
focus group about Kuwait described the citizens of Kuwait as having lower level
of power distance among each others.
That was explained by the higher level of self-efficacy referred to strong
familial and tribal influence. As a result a large portion of the society do
not accept the unequal distribution of power and show a lower power distance.
In relation to the purchase process, people in the gulf countries prefer
a higher power distance between the buyer and the sales person. However, in a
collectivist society, families tend to be more consultative and show less power
distance among each others.
When buyers exercise a high level of power distance towards a
salesperson, this could cause communicational and behavioral problems between
the buyer and the seller. This could happen when one of them (particularly the
seller) does not accept the higher level of power distance exercised by the consumer. Exercising a low
power distance can be viewed as lacking respect and requiring discipline in
cultures demanding high power distance with hierarchical order in which
everybody has a place which needs no further justification.
Indulgence versus restraint
Finally, results of the focus groups indicate that locals have higher
level of indulgence versus restraint in comparison to expatriates. Locals live in wealthy tax free countries and
enjoy a higher income in comparison to other countries. This creates an
environment that allows relatively free gratification (fulfillment) of basic
and natural human desires. These desires are related to life enjoyment, higher
consumption rates of relatively expensive and luxurious products. The
indulgence dimension of national culture was discussed with subjects from GCC
countries. Many focus group members raised concerns of taking the indulgence
dimension out of its context. They view this dimension of national culture as
related to or associated with overspending, over consumption which are
potential precursors for many unfavorable behaviors and consequences such as
wasting, obesity and related diseases.
In order to address this problem, cross cultural communication, and
training programs were suggested. Interaction with other national cultures
could be substantiated through travel and interaction with people in countries
of medium to low indulgence orientation.
Another aspect of indulgence is the allowance of free gratification of
basic desires such as fun. Although this is viewed as desirable in countries of
high indulgence score such as the Anglo world, Latin America and parts of
Africa and Nordic Europe, focus groups criticized the unregulated style of life
that relies on high indulgence which could be positively associated with
unfavorable behaviors.
Long term versus short term orientation
Locals were perceived to have a short term orientation than expatriates
who attach more importance to the future and show a strong propensity to save
and invest for the future. Locals enjoy more income and social security
benefits which lower relatively their long term orientation. Consumers in GC
countries enjoy a higher income than many other countries. Citizens tend to
give preference for indulgence over restraint way of life contrary to many
expatiates who tend to make savings (long term orientation) and purchase less
expensive products (restrained way of life).
Directions For Future Research
This is an exploratory research based on qualitative analysis of focus
group output. It gives directions for further research in this area
particularly the national cultures of the gulf countries. These countries are
distinguished from other Middle Eastern countries by many important aspects
such as the feminine conservative culture where the population is a mix between
local citizens and expatriates.
A quantitative approach based on statistical analysis of questionnaires
filled by shoppers in gulf countries will generate more interesting causal
relationships between the Hofstede dimensions of national culture and several
behavioral aspects of the consumers in these countries.
References
Al-Jeraisy, K. (2008) “ Consumer behavior:
an analytical study of saudi family’s purchase decision” King Fahad National
Library. KSA.
Al-Khatib, J.A., Vitell, S.J., Rexeisen,
R., and Rawwas, M. (2005) “Inter-country.
differences of consumer ethics in Arab
countries” International Business Review, 14(4), pp. 495-516.
Al-Weqaiyan, A. (2005) “A cross-national
study of repurchase intentions of fast-food meals” Journal of International
Food & Agribusiness Marketing, 17(1) pp. 95-116.
Black, N. J., Lockett, A., Ennew, C.,
Winklhofer, H. and McKechnie, S. (2002), Modeling Consumer Choice of
Distribution Channel: An Illustration from Financial Services, International
Journal of Bank Marketing, 20, 161-173.
Buzzel, R. 1968. Can you standardize
multinational marketing? Harvard Business Review 46 (6): 102–113.
Bhuian, S.N. (1997) “Saudi consumers’
attitudes towards European, US and Japanese products and marketing practices”
European Journal of Marketing, 31(7) pp 467-486.
Bow, J. and Ford, M. (1993), “Indonesia
& China: the retail of two cities”, Asian Business, 29(10), pp. 12-14.
Chasin, J.B., Holzmuller, H., and Jaffe,
E.D. (1988), “Stereotyping, buyer familiarity and ethnocentrism: a
cross-cultural analysis”, Journal of International Consumer Marketing, 1(2):
9-29.
De Mooij, M. 2000. The future is
predictable for international marketers: Converging incomes lead to diverging
consumer behavior. International Marketing Review 17 (2): 103–113.
Donovan, R. J. and Rossiter, J. R. (1982),
Store Atmosphere: An Environmental Psychology Approach, Journal of Retailing,
58, 34-57.
Gupta, A., Su, B. and
Walter, Z. (2003), Risk Profile and Consumer Shopping Behavior in Electronic
and Traditional Channels, Decision Support Systems, 38, 347-367.
Haynes, J. L., Pipkin, A. L, Black, W. C.
and Cloud, R. M. (1994), Application of a Choice Sets Model to Assess Patronage
Decision Styles of High Involvement Consumers, Clothing and Textiles Research
Journal, 12, 23-32.
Han, C.M. (1988), “The role of consumer
patriotism in the choice of domestic versusforeign products”, Journal of
Advertising Research, June-July: 25-32.
Hawkins, D.I., Best, R.J., and Coney, K.A.
(2004) Consumer Behavior: BuildingMarketing Strategy, 9th edition, Boston:
McGraw Hill.
Hofstede, G. (2014) http://geert-hofstede.com/kuwait.html
Lindquist, J.D. and Sirgy, M. J. (2003),
Shopper, Buyer, and Consumer Behavior:
Theory, Marketing Applications, and Public
Policy Implications, 2nd Edition,Atomic Dog Publishing: Cincinnati, OH.
Lumpkin, J. R., Hite, R. E. (1988),
Retailers’ Offerings and Elderly Consumed Needs: Do Retailers Understand the
Elderly? Journal of Business Research, 16, 313-326.
Malhotra, N.K. (1983), A Threshold Model
of Store Choice, Journal of Retailing, 59, 3-21.
Manrai, L. A., and A. K. Manrai. 2001.
Cultural issues in the cross-cultural and cross-national consumer research in
the new millennium. Journal of East-West Business 7 (1): 1–10.
Martineau, P. (1958), The Personality of
the Retail Store, Harvard Business Review, 36, 47-55.
McSweeney, B. (2002), Hofstede’s Model of
National Cultural Differences and their Consequences: A Triumph of Faith - a
Failure of Analysis, Human Relations Sage Journals, vol. 55 no. 1, 89-118.
Schutte, H., and D. Ciarlante. 1998. Consumer
behavior in Asia. New York: NYU Press.
Willis, G. 1991. The single market and
national marketing thinking. European Journal of Marketing 25 (4):148–156.
Westfall, R. (1962), “Psychological
factors in predicting product choice”, Journal of
Marketing, April, pp. 34-40.
Wikipedia (2007) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_states_of_the_Persian_Gulf.
No comments:
Post a Comment